The proud boast above the urinals at McDonalds in Cardiff is that they don’t use any water (other than that included in your own contribution) for the sake of the environment. Is this a marketing ploy, sarcasm or genuine solution?
It rains here all the time. We’ve got so much of it, we’re sending it to Birmingham. Suggesting that we need to save water in Wales smacks of taking the p*ss, to be honest (no pun intended). Surely I need to be wasting water to prevent flooding, not saving it? We’ve only just seen the sun after about..oh, I don’t know…17 years of constant rain and now I need to feel guilty about a quick sprinkling of fresh clean water to clear away the half evaporated urine and pubic hair left on the porcelain by the previous customer. Do me a favour. Water saving in Dubai I can understand, but Cardiff?

i’ve just emptied out a bottle of mineral water on the front step in protest, how dare they stop me flushing away other peoples pubic hairs!

EDIT – could you not use the previous urinal atendee’s pubic hair as a target to urinate on?

Poor troll. Nobody is that much of a dumbass.

If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down

They have these waterless facilities in the toilets at service stations on the German Autobahns…

I was thinking a similar thing last week when I was confronted by a rather hairy receptacle.
Looked like someone had been grooming a particularly hairy dog above it….

Poor troll. Nobody is that much of a dumbass.

If the dumbass bit was aimed at me, I couldn’t agree more, but I don’t understand the rest of what you said. It’s not a troll – there are water saving urinals in Cardiff and why would anyone want to save water in Wales? Genuine question.

There are environmental impacts in providing both the clean water to flush and the sewage plants to process the dirty water.

Using clean water to flush is a bit stupid but that’s what most homes and businesses do.

There are obviously cost savings for McD’s as well.

It’s true to say that there are vastly different average annual rainfall figures across the UK – and living in / near Cardiff, I have to agree that saving water can seem a little pointless….

If you live in southern / eastern England you probably have (should have) a different perspective.

That said – storage, transmission, treatment (clean and waste water)and pumping costs all add up – in money and energy.

I’d be more impressed though if a business posted up that it’s flushes were powered by rainwater harvesting – that would show commitment to a more sustainable infrastructure

There are environmental impacts in providing both the clean water to flush and the sewage plants to process the dirty water.

But what’s wrong with a water butt type thing and using that or maybe a little manually operated sunroof above the receptacle to let in a little rain to flush the detritis away?

Welsh Water

Wales Carbon Footprint[url]

Around 30 per cent of a household’s energy bill comes from using hot water, for example, in baths or showers, or for washing clothes or dishes. By using less water, (especially hot water) families should see a reduction in their energy bill, and those who are charged for their water by meter should also see a reduction in their water bill as well.

The benefits of using water wisely don’t stop there. Water is heavy, and it takes a lot of energy to collect it, treat it, and pump it to our homes. Water companies in England and Wales are responsible for approximately four million tonnes of greenhouse gas emission (CO2 equivalent) every year, and that they also account for about three per cent of total energy used in the UK.

Furthermore, according to Waterwise, the UK’s leading authority on water efficiency, the energy used to pump, treat and heat the water in the average family’s home each year produces the carbon equivalent of a return flight from London to New York.

Why would you want to save something that costs a very large amount of money to supply to you? I can’t imagine. I like to buy petrol and burn it, there’s loads of it in the world.

I’d be more impressed though if a business posted up that it’s flushes were powered by rainwater harvesting – that would show commitment to a more sustainable infrastructure

That’s more along the lines of what I was thinking. We’ve got loads of it, so why not use it?

I quite like these as an idea (my wife vetoed the idea in a downstairs loo we recently fitted).

we had waterless urinals in the new eco frindly council headquaters in Edinburgh when I worked there. Most people agreed that they stank of p*ss

The only reason large businesses have energy teams etc is to save money, not the environment. Water costs McDonalds money so by using waterless urinals they save MONEY. You must be very niave if you think they do it because they love the world.

My experience of waterless urinals is that they stink.

The only reason large businesses have energy teams etc is to save money, not the environment. Water costs McDonalds money so by using waterless urinals they save MONEY. You must be very niave if you think they do it because they love the world.

My experience of waterless urinals is that they stink.

That’s what I was thinking. It’s the “waterless” aspect of it that I meant, rather than using the water that we have in abundance in a more friendly way. A large butt on the roof would be a good idea. Not that McDonalds is short of large butts as it is.

I think most big companies have ‘green’ targets they have to meet these days and waterless urinals is one of the things they do to help them meet them. We’ve had them for years. They do have a habit of smelling if the blocks / gels to remove teh smell run out and they do get blocked if they aren’t cleaned with an application of acid once in a while.

Our waterless urinals at work don’t smell at all.

We’ve only just seen the sun after about..oh, I don’t know…17 years of constant rain

(Sobs at the incredible depth of despair and sorrow) 😥

If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down

What if it’s all festering and bubbling and all wriggly worms? Fragile ecosystem destroyed by flushing?

“saving the environment” is just the new “for health and safety reasons” or “for security purposes” in terms of utter nonsense used to justify pretty much anything whilst ignoring all the real but more expensive problems that need sorting out.

I think most big companies have ‘green’ targets they have to meet these days

I suspect that if we have a warm summer, these waterless urinals will become green targets of their own in more ways than one……..

Thing is, if we do eradicate all manner of bottom worms, won’t that affect the environment?

If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down

In the urinal?

Surely a waterless urinal is just a urinal without a water pipe?

2 reasons I guess, One green credentials, 2 save on the water bill!

How do you think your behaviour is modified if you are self-centred? You pay for what you consume, so your behaviour is modified so you behave in a proper way. Water costs to produce, so you pay for it. If you use less, you pay less. Amazingly cunning isn’t it?

So, save water to help the environment but most likely end up using nasty chemicals to make it smell better/ clear it out when it get bunged up. mmmmmmm I don’t think these things are always thought through.

I think we need to wise up and use rainwater harvesting etc for things like flushing loos. Why do we need drinking quality water for that!
Not easy to retro fit but what the heck are these things not mandatory on new builds?

We holiday on an island with no running water and no ground water. You survive on rainfall being collected off the roof into a tank under the house. Well that a rum and tonic 😉 you learn to be careful with the water you have but its not difficult and its not a hardship.